now, this movie i’ve seen unhealthily many times
Here are few interesting things that one can pull from input so far:
-
If we counted the votes, Rambo would be among most popular films, I never would have guess it.
-
I’ve expected to see a lot more Asian movies. I mean, I only have one, it’s not my thing, but Asians have had a lot of success in last 15 years among critics and general public, so I’ve expected to see more mentions.
-
Modern Italian cinema is not very popular (this is spaghetti western forum, which also include popular topic about giallo).
-
This one is hardly a surprise: not many modern westerns (True Grit is obviously like water in the desert)
nor would i
I wasn’t going to do this, but here it is anyways just for the hell of it.
These are just a few favorites that I enjoy…
THE DEPARTED
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
THE DARK NIGHT RISES
ROAD TO PERDITION
SEVEN
HEAT
GLADIATOR
CASINO ROYALE
THE DARK NIGHT
TAKEN
MUNICH
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3
THE LORD OF THE RINGS 1,2 and 3
OLDBOY
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
SIN CITY
STAR TREK
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
DOWNFALL
X-MEN
X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
SPIDERMAN 2
even the strongest will give in
I've expected to see a lot more Asian movies.
Add Survive Style 5+ to my list, and let me second whomever said Red Cliff. I’m glad I saw the full cut of that one first and not the one that’s on Netflix. I had Twilight Samurai on my list as well.
Asian films are still tricky to sell in the western world.
Park Chon Wook’s revenge trilogy belongs to the best of the new century. Actually to the best ever for me. Especially Old Boy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.
And Wong Kar Wai is a giant of cinema. In the Mood of Love is a great masterpiece. And 2046 is also excellent. I’m eagerly awaiting his new film The Grandmaster, his 2nd try with martial arts.
Kim Jee-woon’s A Bittersweet life is also highly recommended.
Italian cinema has become somehow more and more anonymous. The only ones I really enjoyed were Nanni Moretti’s La stanza del figlio and Mio fratello è figlio unico by Daniele Luchetti.
Others which are really great I don’t remember at the moment.
The main problem I have in case of Transformers 2 is that it feel remarkably mauled and it frequently isn’t funny when it is supposed to be funny (those two robots that are always arguing with each other really get on my nerves). I like the first part though.
I should have mentioned A Bittersweet Life and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, at least the first one should have been in the Top 12. The recent War of the Arrows is worth mentioning too.
Ah, old age …
Ok a list is wanted, so here’s a list, I won’t include the other films I already mentioned in the thread
In no particular order:
Lost in Translation – Sofia Copolla
High Fidelity – Stephen Frears
Vozvrashchenie /The Return - Vozvrashchenie
Un profete Jacques Audiard
This Is England- Sane Meadows
Gran Torino – Clint Eastwood
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
Cha no aji/The Taste of tea - Katsuhito Ishii
Mulholland Dr - David Lynch
Mystic River – Clint eastwood
Irréversible –Gaspar Noè
The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow
The New World – Terence Mallick
Malena - Giuseppe Tornatore
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Ang Lee
I must be forgetting something like always in this lists, but those are the ones I remember this morning
I forgot about this one, a great film indeed, a superb cinematography most of all.
[quote=“El Topo, post:31, topic:3174”]Lost in Translation – Sofia Copolla
Un profete Jacques Audiard
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
Mulholland Dr - David Lynch
Irréversible –Gaspar Noè[/quote]
These are some of my favourites too
And Quantum of Solace, which was also mentioned by someone, is definitely in a top 20, maybe top 10.
Good idea for a thread - another list coming up!!!
Watchmen
Inglourious Basterds
Kill Bill
Grindhouse
Avengers
Captain America: The First Avenger
The King’s Speech
Punisher: War Zone (a recent viewing of this one and it is awesome!)
Pan’s Labyrinth
Hellboy
Hellboy: The Golden Army
Batman Begins
Shaun of the Dead
Football Factory
Django Unchained
Hot Fuzz
28 Days Later
Just checked out TAKEN since I saw it mentioned on some lists here. Nothing original plotwise, but the action scenes are perfectly executed and it ends exactly when it should.
That was exactly how I felt about Taken, Ion. I would almost say its brilliance is in its brevity. This is not a film where we need to really invest all that much in the characters, just understand their basic relationships. Ten minutes introduction, the shit hits the fan, and keeps hitting the fan until pretty much the last minute.
I’ve been noticing, after watching some older films lately, that recent Hollywood efforts have really long, drawn out post-denouements in comparison. Whereas the old films get to a resolution (or in the case of comedies, build to a new, ridiculous situation – see Some Like It Hot), and bam, credits roll. Modern efforts seem to put too much emphasis on closure that they feel the need to stitch up every loose thread to the point of tedium sometimes. I’ve also been noticing this more as I’ve gotten older and have to piss more often during long films.
I watched Django, Kill! in a theater with a bunch of folks that had never seen it, and there was some uncomfortable laughter at what I think was perceived as an abrupt ending. I’m not sure what story was left to tell at the end, though.
Some of my favorites since 2000
The Westerns:
True Grit
Open Range
The Missing
Django Unchained
3:10 to Yuma
All The Pretty Horses
Appaloosa
Hidalgo
The Not-Westerns:
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Snatch
No Country for Old Men
Kill Bill I & II
Collateral
Man on Fire
3000 Miles to Graceland
Gran Torino
The Town
Inglourious Basterds
Rambo
Rocky Balboa
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Live Free or Die Hard
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
I have to ask am I the only one who has seen or am I the only one who liked The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford? I thought it was realistic and artsy/stylish at the same time, probably the most honest and realistic western shootouts put on film (they’re not that flattering to either party involved and damn near everyone is shot in the back). I found this to be a haunting and moving film and probably my #1 favorite of the last decade.
EDIT: thought I’d throw in Beyond The Black Rainbow, a movie not a lot of people saw but its pretty awesome, if you like psychedelic sci-fi imagery with a retro 80s feel and dark Carpenter/Tangerine Dream-esque soundtracks have a look and this awesome movie
Not at all. I’m pretty sure acouple of people have had it in their lists here and it would probably make mine too if I ever got round to completing it. A very good film imo.
Assassination of Jesse James etc etc. For me one of the most boring films I’ve seen. The slow moving wanna-be-leone style felt artificial to me.